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A. Discuss these questions

A saver keeps money or Investors use their

other assets usually in a money to generate 1/ Would you
describe yourself as a
bank account, without wealth in the future.
spender, a saver or an
any risk of making profit Investors can gain investor?
What is the difference
(apart from the interest) much higher
between a saver and an
or loss (unless the bank returns, but there is investor?
fails). also a risk of some
loss.
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2. Look at these savers’ and investors’ comments. Which statements are closest
to your own attitude?
a. I’ll leave my money in a d. I’d go for a high rate of
savings account. It’s low return, regardless of the risks.
interest, but safe.

e. Transparency in how my
b. I’ll always opt for less return, money is invested is important
but with a trade-off of less risk. for me.

c. I’d never invest in anything I

didn’t fully understand . f. It’s essential that my money
goes into ethical investments.

g. I’d be happy to buy shares in

the company I work for.
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B. 2.30. Listen to the first part of an interview with Charles Middleton, UK
Managing Director of Triodos Bank. Complete this summary using a maximum
of three words in each gap.

Triodos Bank is a pioneer and

innnovator in sustainable banking. It
was founded in the Netherlands in
1980 out of a group led by an
economist, a tax law professor, a
consultant and a banker.

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Match the two columns
1/ We are purely focussed on
supporting projects
2/ Our business model, working with
3/ We fund ourselves with deposits
from real people
4/ We lend money to real projects,
5/ Triodos bank has expertise
6/ Triple bottom line is
7/ What they seek to achieve is not
just about
a. the real economy
b. in the various sectors
c. a great feature of a trully
sustainable bank
d. projects that are actually doing
things
e. that are delivering a social,
environmental postitive impact.
f. mostly individuals, but some
businesses
g. finance
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2.30 Triodos Bank invests in projects that have a positive (1) social____
and (2) environmental___ impact. The bank’s business model involves
working with the (3) _real economy____. Triodos depositors are mostly
(4) individuals___ rather than (5) _business____. Triodos funds
projects that are (6) _doing things_____, and the bank has (7)
_expertise____ in these sectors. The return on investment is a
combination of three factors: financial, social and environmental. This
is known as the (8) _triple bottom line____
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2.31 Listen to the second part pf the interview. Correct the six errors in this
information about the projects that Triodos invests in.

Triodos invests in over 9,500 projects. They cover a very limited(huge)

range of activities. One such activity is nuclear(renewable) energy. The bank
is lending to some of the major providers in the EU(UK). It is also financing
some of the big providers of social networks(housing), such as Mencap. And
it is invoved in training(trading) activity, for instance with organisations like
Café Direct, a major wholesale(fair-trade) provider of hot drinks. The bank
provides these organisations with debt funding, so the return is just the
interest on the loan.
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3.32 Listen to the third part of the interview. Which two changes would Charles
Middleton like to see, and why?

Firstly, he'd like to see (1) ___to focus on banking in the real
economy________________________, as opposed to creating products and
services that are removed from the bank's business, because it's been proven
that a bank can’t ___manage that risk______________when it's not in direct
contact with the business.
Secondly, he'd like to see some (2) _separation______of the more investment-
banking type of activities, because investment banking is _a riskier
business____________and customers are put at risk of banks failing.
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2.32 Complete these statements with correct forms of expressions used by
Charles Middleton
Inappropriate/ notion/ several places removed/ proven/ straightforward/
esoteric/ engage/ engagement
1  lf x is not directly associated with y, it's .... several places
removed........................ from y.
2  A ....notion...... is an idea or theory, sometimes a false or illusory one.
3  The two possible forms for the past participle of prove are proved
and..proven
4  If you have dealings with an organisation,you..engage........with it: there
is...engagement....... with it on your part.
5  Unusual activities that few people understand are ....esoteric...
6  Something simple and uncomplicated is ....straightforward......
7  Something that is unsuitable for a particular situation is ....inappropriate.....
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F. Which of the words in each group does not form a word partnership with the
noun in bold? Think of another word partnership for each noun.
1. sustainable/ investment/ customer/ commercial bank
2. bad/ national/ loan/ external debt
3. money/ debt/ public/ crisis funding
4. interest – free/ savings/ short-term/ bridging loan
5. booming/ black/ real/ deposit economy
6. down/ fair/ free/ overseas trade

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G. Complete each group of sentences below with the correct form of one of the
words in the box.
deposit/ expose/ invest/ lend

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